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June 5, 2011

Top Al Qaeda-linked militant reportedly killed by drone attack in Pakistan

Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al Qaeda-linked operative blamed for high-profile attacks in Pakistan and India, was killed in South Waziristan, say news reports and a statement by his militant organization.

An overnight attack by an unmanned aircraft killed Ilyas Kashmiri, an Al Qaeda-linked operative blamed for several high-profile attacks in Pakistan and India, local news reports and a statement by his banned militant organization said Saturday.

If borne out, this would be the second major U.S. anti-terrorism coup in quick succession, coming just a month after the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by Navy SEALs. Analysts had identified Kashmiri as a possible Bin Laden successor.

"This is very good news, especially on the heels of the Bin Laden" killing, said Talat Masood, a security analyst and former Pakistani lieutenant general. "He's a very important leader who played havoc with the region."

Shoaib Khan, an assistant political agent in South Waziristan, confirmed the killing at a compound in Ghwa Khwa village, adding that Kashmiri and eight other militants were buried in a local graveyard. A senior tribal area official said separately that multiple sources had confirmed Kashmiri was dead.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-qaeda-leader-20110605,0,1122182,print.story

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Crime Victims United of California: A powerful voice in state politics

The victims group is aligned with the prison guards union.

Soon after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its recent decision that California would have to reduce its prison population to relieve overcrowding, a representative of Crime Victims United of California took to the airwaves with harrowing predictions. "It's a disaster," Nina Salarno Ashford, a board member of the group, told an interviewer. "They're going to be letting sex offenders out. They're going to be letting kidnappers out. They're going to be letting a whole host of really bad people back into California without the resources to protect the good citizens of California."

It was not surprising that Crime Victims United was given airtime in the wake of the opinion. For more than two decades, journalists and politicians have treated the group as the primary voice of California's crime victims. Representatives such as Salarno Ashford routinely speak as if they are representative of all victims. But Crime Victims United has a particular, and particularly punitive, perspective on criminal justice, one that has been shaped over the years by its most powerful ally: the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., the union that represents the state's prison guards.

The alliance between the victims group and the guards dates to 1990, when former union President Don Novey met Harriet Salarno (Nina Salarno Ashford's mother) at a parole hearing for the man who murdered Salarno's other daughter, Catina, in 1979. At the time, Salarno led support groups for victims and their families and lobbied state legislators (with little success) to pass victim-friendly legislation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-page-prison-guards-20110603,0,3345872,print.story

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Yahoo Mail, Hotmail become new targets for hackers

Microsoft's Hotmail and Yahoo's mail service have also been targeted by hackers and other phishing attacks, an online security firm reported.

Trend Micro said, its research team in Taiwan has exposed a phishing attack which got its way over Hotmail and attempted to steal users' cookies in Yahoo Mail. The attacks were similar to that of Gmail.

“Trend Micro recently uncovered a malware that also uses the res:// protocol to enumerate the software installed in targets' computers, setting the stage for future, more precise attacks. Once the attackers know what softwares are installed on a target's computer, including antivirus products, they can craft a precise attack targeting any vulnerable software. Such an attack will then have a high probability of success,” wrote Nart Villeneuve, Senior Threat Researcher, in the company's official blog.

The company said in case of Yahoo Mail, the hackers were not completely successful but it did signify that hackers are looking for a way to compromise Yahoo mail accounts.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/157401/20110604/microsoft-yahoo-hotmail-protocol-trencd-micro-pdf-doc-phishing.htm

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June 4, 2011

U.S., Mexican governments reject report calling for drug legalization

In separate statements, the governments signaled that they would not back away from current strategies in the war on drugs, which in Mexico has resulted in more than 38,000 deaths in 4 1/2 years and is backed by more than $1 billion in U.S. aid under the Merida Initiative.

As The Times reported Thursday from Mexico City and Washington, the Global Commission on Drug Policy is urging governments to decriminalize drug consumption and experiment with legalization and regulation of some narcotics, especially marijuana. The report calls the 4-decade-old war on drugs a failure.

"We can no longer ignore the extent to which drug-related violence, crime and corruption in Latin America are the results of failed drug war policies," former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria said in a prepared statement tied to the report's release. "Now is the time to break the taboo on discussion of all drug policy options, including alternatives to drug prohibition."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2011/06/obama-calderon-drug-war-report-commission

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John Edwards denies federal charges

The former Democratic presidential candidate says he didn't break the law when he used funds from two supporters to hide his mistress and their daughter.

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has insisted that he broke no laws when he hid his pregnant mistress while seeking the nomination in 2008. Now, he's made that position official, pleading not guilty to federal criminal charges that he accepted nearly $1 million from two supporters to fund the deception.

On Friday, a federal grand jury indicted Edwards, 57, on six counts of violating campaign finance laws, lying to the government and conspiring to protect his candidacy by breaking the law.

The case against Edwards could rise or fall on whether the government is reaching too far and trying to hold Edwards to a higher election law standard than usual. Notably, the first paragraph of the 19-page indictment said that a "centerpiece" of Edwards candidacy in 2008 was "his public image as a devoted family man" and that he often stressed to voters that "family comes first."

The government maintains that by accepting money to keep his mistress, Rielle Hunter, and eventually their daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, out of sight, he was trying to maintain the viability of his candidacy. Therefore, the government said, the money constituted undeclared campaign contributions.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-john-edwards-20110604,0,7271258,print.story

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A U.S. strategy for fighting cyberattacks

The Pentagon is developing a new cyberwarfare strategy that calls for the use of military force in response to certain kinds of damaging online attacks on U.S. institutions.

The Pentagon is developing a new cyberwarfare strategy that calls for the use of military force — including conventional weapons — in response to certain kinds of damaging online attacks on U.S. institutions. That's fine in theory; if foreign agents launch a cyberattack on, say, the nation's electrical grid, it may be both reasonable and proportionate to fire missiles at, say, the attacker's energy supplies. But as recent hacks and phishing attacks on Google's Gmail service and on defense contractor Lockheed Martin indicate, the theory may not translate well to the murky, messy reality of what's happening online.

It's no surprise that the United States would reserve the right to use force against those who threaten it through the Internet. That's standard operating procedure for governments around the world in response to any new type of attack. The Obama administration stated its position simply in the International Strategy for Cyberspace policy paper released May 17, which declared that the United States "will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country."

But what constitutes an act of cyberwarfare? When would a military response be appropriate? And what are the rules of engagement? These are questions that U.S. administrations and defense officials have been struggling to answer for more than a decade.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-google-20110603,0,5384486,print.story

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Summer safety tips for parents

With summer just around the corner, it's time for the kids to get outside, go to the beach or pool and enjoy a less structured schedule.

Prevent Child Abuse Rhode Island says parents need to be aware of the dangers that come with summer activities and remember that children still need careful supervision when they are out of school.

In the water

All children need to be supervised while they are in the water. Young children need to be closely watched anytime they are around water.

Children will wander

Every year young children are reported missing after they have wandered away from their homes. Some of these children are seriously injured, killed or never found.

Hot weather

The inside temperature of a car can reach over 120 degrees in less than 20 minutes on a hot summer day. Your child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than that of an adult, leading to heat stroke and death within a matter of minutes. Approximately 400 children have died over the last 10 years when they were left alone in a car.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/SUMMER_SAFETY_06-04-11_LMODSAA_v12.3041b54.html

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June 3, 2011

Jaycee Dugard's grand jury testimony provides personal account of kidnapping, rape and captors

Jaycee Dugard to Phillip Garrido: 'You stole my life and that of my family'

Dugard did not attend the hearing, but her mother, Terry Probyn, read a statement by Dugard directed at Phillip Garrido:

"I chose not to be here today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence.... Everything you ever did to me was wrong and I hope one day you will see that.... I hated every second of every day for 18 years. You stole my life and that of my family."

In a portion of the statement directed at Nancy Garrido, Dugard wrote:

"There is no God in the universe that would condone your actions."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/dugard.html

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Jaycee Dugard's kidnappers sentenced to prison

Phillip Garrido, a 60-year-old convicted rapist, was sentenced to 431 years to life in prison. His 55-year-old wife Nancy was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison.

In recommending that Garrido receive a sentence of 431 years to life in prison, El Dorado County Dist. Atty. Vern Pierson described the serial rapist as “a sexual predator who stole the childhood and innocence from an 11-year-old child. Defendant Garrido's actions caused her mother Terry Probyn to have to endure an 18-year-long nightmare.”

Before the Garridos' sentencing Thursday in a Placerville courtroom, a tearful Probyn addressed the court. "How could someone take away the one person in the world I loved so deeply? Where is she? Is she hungry? Is she cold? Is she hurt? My baby was gone and all my dreams turned to nightmares. She was a vulnerable child and I was unable to help her.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/jaycee-dugard-kidnappers-sentenced-phillip-garrido.html

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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(Video on site)

June 1: Official Start of the Hurricane Season

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Justice Department Settles Lawsuit with Maricopa County Sheriff's Office

Settlement Comes After the Sheriff's Office Provided Information Sought in Title VI Investigation

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has entered in to a court-enforceable agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio resolving a longstanding dispute over access to information related to the department's Title VI investigation of the sheriff's office. The settlement comes after MCSO allowed officials from the Justice Department to conduct more than 220 interviews and review hundreds of thousands of pages of documents. Prior to the litigation, MCSO refused to cooperate in full with the investigation.

On Sept. 2, 2010, the department filed a lawsuit after exhausting all cooperative measures to gain access to MCSO's documents and facilities, as part of the department's investigation of alleged discrimination in MCSO's police practices and jail operations. Since March 2009, the department attempted to secure voluntary compliance with the department's investigation and did not receive full compliance until the lawsuit was filed.

MCSO has now cooperated with the investigation by permitting the department to interview Sheriff Arpaio, command staff, deputies, detention officers and first line supervisors, as well as jail inmates. MCSO has also allowed tours of its facilities and has responded to each of the department's original document requests. Under the terms of the agreement, MCSO will continue to provide the department with access to sources of information that the department determines are pertinent to its Title VI investigation.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/June/11-crt-722.html

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Digital Forensics

Regional Labs Help Solve Local Crimes

In 2008, Illinois police received disturbing information about a Chicago woman who had taken a 3-year-old to a “sex party” in Indiana where the child and an 11-year-old girl were abused by three adults. However, by the time the tip was received, the crime had already occurred, and there seemed to be no evidence to support criminal charges.

But there was evidence, buried deep within the woman's computer, and examiners from our Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) in Chicago found it—a deleted e-mail titled “map to the party” that contained directions to an Indiana hotel. The evidence led to charges against all three adults, who were later convicted of aggravated sexual abuse and are currently in prison serving life sentences.

“That's just one example of what we do every day,” said John Dziedzic, a Cook County Sheriff's Office forensic examiner who is the director of the Chicago RCFL. “Evidence we produce here—and testify to in court—is crucial in a variety of major investigations.”

The FBI established the first RCFL in San Diego in 2000, and today there 16 Bureau-sponsored labs located around the country, staffed by agents and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies (see sidebar).

Each facility is a full-service forensics laboratory and training center devoted to examining digital evidence in support of investigations—everything from child pornography and terrorism to violent crime and economic espionage cases.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/may/forensics_053111/forensics_053111

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June 2, 2011

Early release proposed for crack cocaine offenders

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. backs an early release proposal to retroactively correct sentence disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenders. The plan, which would apply to 5,500 prisoners, would take effect Nov. 1.

Thousands of federal prisoners could have an average of three years shaved off their prison terms to correct wide disparities in sentences between crack and powder cocaine offenders, under a proposal supported by Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

More than 12,000 federal prisoners — nearly 6% of the inmates in the badly overcrowded U.S. prison system — could be affected. But Holder recommended Wednesday that the early release be applied to only 5,500 prisoners, whose crimes did not involve the use of weapons and who did not have long criminal histories. The releases could begin later this year.

The proposal is intended to remedy a legacy of the war on drugs that meted out much harsher sentences to crack cocaine users, who are mostly black, than to powder cocaine users, often white and sometimes affluent. Congress changed the sentencing law last year but did not address the fate of thousands of prisoners already sentenced under the old system or arrested just before the law was changed.

The proposal under consideration by the U.S. Sentencing Commission comes after a divided Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates. It drew immediate fire from some prominent conservatives.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was "disappointed by the Obama administration's position" on early releases for drug offenders and indicated he might push Congress to intervene if the U.S. Sentencing Commission votes to make the changes this month that would take effect Nov. 1. "It shows they are more concerned with the well-being of criminals than with the safety of our communities."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-holder-crack-20110602,0,4134707,print.story

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High-profile panel urges non-criminal approach to world drug policy

The report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, was swiftly dismissed by the U.S. and Mexico.

Calling the global war on drugs a costly failure, a group of high-profile world leaders is urging the Obama administration and other governments to end "the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but do no harm to others."

A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, recommends that governments try new ways of legalizing and regulating drugs, especially marijuana, as a way to deny profits to drug cartels.

The recommendation was swiftly dismissed by the Obama administration and the government of Mexico, which are allied in a violent 4 1/2 -year-old crackdown on cartels that has killed more than 38,000 people in Mexico.

"The U.S. needs to open a debate," former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, a member of the panel, said by telephone from New York, where the report is scheduled to be released Thursday. "When you have 40 years of a policy that is not bringing results, you have to ask if it's time to change it."

An advance copy of the report was provided to The Times. Three of the report's Latin American signatories, Gaviria and former Presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, made similar recommendations two years ago. Their views failed to change the enforcement-based approach that dominates drug policies worldwide.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-drug-policy-20110602,0,4305923,print.story

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Bill on financial aid for undocumented college students advances in California Legislature

The Legislature also moves on measures for police monitoring of sex offenders' Internet use and ending the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients.

Reporting from Sacramento -- State lawmakers Wednesday advanced measures that would allow undocumented university students to apply for financial aid, would help police monitor use of social networking websites by sex offenders and would end the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients.

Legislators also moved on bids to prevent Bell-style financial scandals, pension "spiking" and disruptive picketing at military funerals.

The bills were among more than 200 passed by the Senate or Assembly and sent to the other house.

The state aid that undocumented students could become eligible for would include Cal-Grants, institutional aid and fee waivers at publicly funded colleges. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed measures that would have provided the same privileges.

Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) said his proposal, which passed the lower house, would help "children brought here through no choice of their own, who embrace our values and learn the language."

Republicans voted en masse against the measure, AB 131, saying it would create an incentive for illegal immigration.

Over in the Senate, members voted to require that registered sex offenders disclose to law enforcement their online names, email addresses and social networking accounts to help reduce Internet-related crime.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-legislature-20110602,0,7559824,print.story

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Death of 91-year-old spotlights line between care and killing

Maria 'Concha' Lopez, living with her great-niece, dies weighing 35 pounds and covered with sores. Was the 91-year-old's death murder or natural causes?

Reporting from Madera, Calif. -- 'Don't leave me," Stephanie Hernandez implored, as she fumbled with her cellphone to dial 911. "I need you. I need you."

Hernandez had just changed her great-aunt's diaper and was coaxing her to take a sip of water when Maria "Concha" Lopez, 91, stopped breathing.

CPR was out of the question, Hernandez told the emergency dispatcher: "She's too fragile. We could break her, her bones." The dispatcher talked the distraught 26-year-old through the basics of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

But when firefighters and paramedics opened the door to the little house on South A Street that December morning, they were immediately overwhelmed. By the stench — urine, feces, rotting flesh. By the mess — soiled diapers, used bandages, a stained mattress.

Most of all, though, by Lopez's body. The bed-bound woman who'd suffered from dementia and shied away from doctors weighed just over 35 pounds and was covered in bedsores, some so deep they bared bone. A metal rod from hip surgery was visible.

Hernandez was arrested and then charged with murdering the woman she had bathed, fed and changed for three years. She would be put on trial, accused not of any overt violence against the woman who had raised her but of failure as a caregiver.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elderly-homicide-20110602,0,4649759,print.story

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53 guns found in home where 2-year-old fatally shot 6-year-old

Fresno police said they found 53 guns inside a home where a 2-year-old boy fatally shot his 6-year-old stepsister over the weekend.

Police said the toddler found the loaded gun in a bedroom Sunday, picked it up and discharged it. The bullet hit 6-year-old Emily Lavender in the chest.

Investigations found the other guns when they responded to the shooting scene, according to the Fresno Bee, which also reported that five other children in the home were taken into protective custody by the county.

The girl's school was in mourning Tuesday.

"Emily was a very sweet and a loving, loving young girl here at Maple Creek and she's going to be missed," Maple Creek Elementary School Principal Gina Kismet told KFSN-TV News.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/53-guns-found-in-home-where-2-year-old-fatally-shot-6-year-old.html

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June 1, 2011

Two Iraqi refugees in U.S. charged in terrorism-related case

Two men are charged with sending cash, explosives and missiles to Iraq for use against Americans. Their case underscores gaps identified in the U.S. refugee vetting process before last year.

Before he was granted refugee status in the U.S. and settled down in Bowling Green, Ky., Waad Ramadan Alwan was allegedly a sniper and skilled bomb maker who targeted U.S. forces and bragged that his "lunch and dinner would be an American."

Alwan is one of two Iraqi refugees who the Justice Department announced Tuesday had been charged with participating in an alleged plot to send cash, explosives and Stinger missiles to Iraq for use against Americans.

The men are among 56,000 Iraqis who took advantage of special programs to come to the United States after demonstrating they were in danger from Iraqi militias for their religious beliefs or because they were translators for U.S. government or media organizations.

Alwan was admitted into the U.S. in 2009 even though his fingerprint was found in 2005 on an unexploded roadside bomb that was set to blow up a U.S. convoy in Iraq, according to court documents. His print was loaded into a Defense Department database. But when he applied for U.S. refugee status, a search of that database was not yet a part of the application process.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-kentucky-terror-arrests-20110601,0,3712729,print.story

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Too costly for prison

Releasing aged or infirm inmates is a responsible way to save money and reduce overcrowding.

Steven Martinez was sentenced to 157 years in prison after abducting, beating and raping a San Diego woman in 1998. Three years later, during a prison knife attack, he was stabbed in the neck, his spinal cord was severed and he was left a quadriplegic.

Though he cannot eat, bathe himself or move his arms or legs, Martinez remains an inmate in the state prison system, and his medical treatment costs taxpayers about $600,000 a year. He has also had to spend long periods in an outside medical facility, which costs the state an additional $800,000 a year for round-the-clock guards.

Martinez is just one of dozens of sick, aged, infirm and even comatose inmates who authorities say pose no further threat to the public, yet who together cost state taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually because of their medical treatment and security requirements. In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling such expenditures a waste, signed a "medical parole" bill into law under which inmates who are deemed "permanently medically incapacitated" may be released and their medical costs shifted to themselves or their families. If for some unanticipated reason an inmate's condition were to improve, he or she could be sent back to prison.

It is a reasonable law. But last week, when Martinez became the first inmate to come before the parole board under its provisions, his release was strongly opposed by the San Diego district attorney, and the board ultimately voted to keep him behind bars.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-parole-20110531,0,4265779,print.story

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Attorney General Eric Holder, Justice Department and Administration Officials Join with Actors from HBO's The Wire for Launch of Drug Endangered Children Public Awareness Campaign

Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Task Force Announces Launch of Website to Better Serve Children Endangered by Drug Abuse

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder announced today the launch of a public awareness campaign at a Federal Interagency Drug Endangered Children (DEC) Task Force event to bring attention to the challenges faced by children and families affected by drug abuse and highlight the work being done across the country to address these issues. Following opening remarks by Deputy Attorney General James Cole, Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) moderated a panel discussion, featuring Attorney General Holder and actors Jim True-Frost (“Prez”), Wendell Pierce (“Bunk”) and Sonja Sohn (“Kima”) from the HBO hit series, The Wire . Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Gil Kerlikowske delivered closing remarks.

Focused on protecting children from drug abuse and exploitation, the public awareness campaign will emphasize the important role law enforcement officials, health professionals, educators and community leaders play in helping first responders identify whether a child is endangered by drugs, as well as the resources available to assist vulnerable children.

“This public awareness campaign will highlight the risks posed to drug endangered children across the country and empower communities to better serve children exposed to drug abuse, trafficking and addiction by their parent or childcare provider,” said Attorney General Holder. “Protecting youth from exposure to drug abuse is a key priority for this department, and we are unwavering in our commitment to raising awareness about this vital mission and continuing our efforts to assist the most vulnerable victims of the illicit drug industry.”

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/May/11-ag-702.html

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May 31, 2011

Bill would let counties opt out of U.S. immigration enforcement program

Assembly Democrats say the Secure Communities program, which sends fingerprints of local arrestees to the ICE, ensnares low-level offenders. Republicans say the action would undermine federal law.

California lawmakers have taken steps to opt out of a controversial federal immigration enforcement program, joining a growing number of states that say it harms public safety and undermines local law enforcement.

Under the Secure Communities program, fingerprints of all arrestees booked into local jails and cross-checked with the FBI's criminal database are forwarded to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for screening. Officials said the system, launched in 2008, is intended to identify and deport illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes such as murder, rape and kidnapping.

Some state lawmakers say the reality has been far different. Citing ICE data, Democrats say that many of those ensnared in the program have never been convicted of crimes or are low-level offenders. The result, they say, has been a chilling effect on immigrant crime victims and witnesses, who stay silent for fear of deportation.

Republicans are opposed to opting out, saying it would undermine federal law.

From the program's inception through March of this year, 55% of those flagged for deportation nationwide had committed misdemeanors and infractions or were arrested but not convicted of crimes, ICE data show. About 30% of those flagged for deportation had been convicted of serious crimes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-immigration-20110531,0,411799,print.story

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Pentagon seeks mini-weapons for new age of warfare

In an effort to cut costs and avoid civilian casualties, manufacturers are developing small 'smart bombs,' drones that resemble model planes and microscopic crystals to tag enemy targets.

Under mounting pressure to keep its massive budget in check, the Pentagon is looking to cheaper, smaller weapons to wage war in the 21st century.

A new generation of weaponry is being readied in clandestine laboratories across the nation that puts a priority on pintsized technology that would be more precise in warfare and less likely to cause civilian casualties. Increasingly, the Pentagon is being forced to discard expensive, hulking, Cold War-era armaments that exact a heavy toll on property and human lives.

At L-3 Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim, technicians work in secure rooms developing a GPS guidance system for a 13-pound "smart bomb" that would be attached to small, low-flying drone.

Engineers in Simi Valley at AeroVironment Inc. are developing a mini-cruise missile designed to fit into a soldier's rucksack, be fired from a mortar and scour the battlefield for enemy targets.

And in suburban Portland, Ore. Voxtel Inc. is concocting an invisible mist to be sprayed on enemy fighters and make them shine brightly in night-vision goggles.

These miniature weapons have one thing in common: They will be delivered with the help of small robotic planes. Drones have grown in importance as the Pentagon has seen them play a vital role in Iraq, Afghanistan and reportedly in the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mini-drones-20110531,0,4286415,print.story

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Video: Kindergarten teacher leads children in song during shootout in Mexico

In the video, the frightened but determined voice of a schoolteacher is heard as she attempts to maintain calm among a group of kindergartners lying on the floor before her, asking them to join her in a singalong as gunfire shatters the air outside.

The teacher refers to the children as "my love," "precious" and "little ones" during the stirring clip filmed last week in the city of Monterrey, in northern Mexico. It's gone viral, igniting once more a public debate over the government's campaign against drug gangs and earning accolades for maestra Martha Rivera Alanis, reports the Associated Press.

The Nuevo Leon state government honored Rivera for "outstanding civic courage" in a ceremony today.

The 33-year-old mother of two said she was frightened, but that her "only thought was to take their minds off that noise." The song she chose during the ordeal is a Spanish-language version of a tune popularized by the children's TV program "Barney and Friends," and makes reference to chocolate droplets falling from the sky.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2011/05/mexico-video-kindergarten-shootout-teacher-drug-war.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LaPlaza+%28La+Plaza%29

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US 'to view major cyber attacks as acts of war'

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has adopted a new strategy that will classify major cyber attacks as acts of war, paving the way for possible military retaliation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said the Pentagon plans to unveil its first-ever strategy regarding cyber warfare next month, in part as a warning to foes that may try to sabotage the country's electricity grid, subways or pipelines.

"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," it quoted a military official as saying.

The newspaper, citing three officials who had seen the document, said the the strategy would maintain that the existing international rules of armed conflict -- embodied in treaties and customs -- would apply in cyberspace.

It said the Pentagon would likely decide whether to respond militarily to cyber attacks based on the notion of "equivalence" -- whether the attack was comparable in damage to a conventional military strike. Such a decision would also depend on whether the precise source of the attack could be determined.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hMZ4N5VICZJ9yuCSowyGaiJKMBJA?docId=CNG.1fd0708a234708869809ecba5fc0c618.371

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May 30, 2011

Memorial Day was first proclaimed in 1868 when the graves of soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. were decorated. By 1890, all the northern states adopted the holiday, but the South refused and celebrated the dead in their own ways. That changed in the early 20th century, when the holiday was changed to also honor the people who died in World War I.

In 1971, the U.S. Congress officially made Memorial Day a federal holiday.

http://norwalk.patch.com/articles/memorial-day-from-civil-war-to-the-present

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